


Beyond The Metro

by OzzyOz



Series: RE/Shuffle [1]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Octo Expansion DLC, Rated for Agent 3 swearing, Slow Burn, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:55:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28100514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OzzyOz/pseuds/OzzyOz
Summary: Two Agents attempt to reclaim what has been lost. Two other Agents attempt to sort out what has been given.
Relationships: Agent 3/Agent 8 (Splatoon), Agent 4/Marie (Splatoon)
Series: RE/Shuffle [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2058666
Kudos: 17





	Beyond The Metro

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! I had this fun idea a few days back, and I thought I might as well flesh it out and post it. Hopefully I don’t get scared and delete it like I tend to do… ahahahha *sweats nervously*

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [Somewhere, a deck is cleansed, a question is asked, and said deck is promptly shuffled.]
> 
> Three gains an unwanted companion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I had this idea a few days back, and I thought I might as well flesh it out and post it. Hopefully, I don’t get scared and delete it like I tend to do… ahahaha...

_ If I were to open my eyes and hear that it was all true _ _  
  
_

_ Please don’t set off the siren of a tragedy _ _  
  
_

_ I want you to make the future rain down upon this world’s scar _ _  
_  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Eight was (typically) a quiet person. 

She didn’t talk often. She found it much easier to think to herself, yet she loathed the idea of being alone.

Alone, like Agent 3 had found her.

Alone, like Agent 3 had likely felt while she had been sanitized.

She’d wanted to see as much as she could- live as much as she could- in an attempt to compensate for her vague memory. To her, it didn’t seem like much to ask. She’d escaped the Metro, and her reward was life on the surface, right?

Agent 8 did remember a few things vividly, one of the said things being her fights with Agent 3. The memory was etched into her mind, playing on loop constantly. 

Agent 3’s hollow eyes still plagued her mind.

And yet, here laid Agent 3, the real Agent 3, and not a memory, a figment of imagination, or some vessel. 

And so, Agent 3 had finally come to. 

“Oh, hey! Three’s up.” Pearl looked over to Agent 3. Marina was already patching up some of 3’s wounds. Three hadn’t suffered too many injuries, but the sanitization had left behind a large stain on the right side of her face.

“Are you, er, feeling alright, Three? You got knocked unconscious quite a few times there!” 

“...” Three stared at her quizzically. “...I’m fine, but... Who are you two supposed to be, again?”

Pearl scoffed. This earned a small laugh from Marina, who was sitting nearby. “Only THE Squid Sisters. Do you even watch the news?”

“...Man, I guess I did miss a lot..” 3 said, scratching a bit at the bandage around her right eye. 

“Don’t scratch it. It’s still healing.” Marina sighed, moving Three’s hand away from her bandages. 

Agent 3 still seemed genuinely confused about her whereabouts. She looked around the heli, seemingly searching for someone that she recognized. And, of course, there was only one. 

Eight.

Three noticed the Octoling and opened her mouth for a moment as if to say something, but then assumed a frantic expression. She then ran over to the edge of the helicopter. 

Agent 3 then threw up for a good minute before promptly passing out, nearly falling off of the helicopter in the process.

"Oh." Was all Eight was able to get out.  
  


* * *

  
While she waited for Agent 3 to wake up, Agent 8 realized a few things.

One of said things being that she didn’t exactly have anywhere to stay while she was on the surface. While she wasn’t one to complain often, it became more and more apparent to her that she would need shelter. 

Another one of those things was that the surface was much different than she’d been taught. Being taught about Inkopolis at a young age was one of her most vivid memories. She’d been sitting there, listening intently to what her general had to say. Her general described a cruel, loveless place- filled with bandits, criminals, and corruption.

They would often portray Inkopolis like this, yet all of this talk only made Eight want to visit Inkopolis more. 

Those days were gone, now. Yet, Eight remained.

Now that she was here, on the surface- she was convinced that a place so cruel could not possibly exist. She still wondered about her old Commander and team. 

She wished she could remember who exactly they were.

And here… She didn’t exactly have ‘friends’ yet. Sure, Cap’n Cuttlefish, Pearl, and Marina had helped her escape the Metro, and she’d generated some (very) small talk with Marie a bit earlier, but otherwise, she knew almost nobody on the surface.

Her train of thought was interrupted by Agent 3 waking up. She seemed drained and almost dishevelled as if she didn’t want to be woken up so early. 

Three grimaced and pulled herself up. Though the right side of her face still had (now bandaged up) blue-green markings from her sanitization, her eyes had returned from green to grey. She glanced around the valley.

“Long time no see, Three. Are you feeling quite alright? Didn’t know you were one to throw up often.”

“Yeah, yeah. Never been better...”

Agent 3 dropped back to the ground just after getting up, clutching the right side of her head in agony. 

“Three! Are y-”

“I’m fine, I’m fine!” Three slowly got up after a few moments. “It’s just a little headache.”

Marie eyed her concernedly. 

“So… it’s you.” Agent 3 said, glaring down Eight as she spoke.

Marie raised an eyebrow. “...Yes, Agent 3, you fought her. Remember? It’s a long story, but she’s not a threat.”

“I did? ….huh.” Agent 3 scratched her head.

“..Agent 3, you know you can tell me if something-”

Three cut her off. “I’m fine. End of discussion.”

Agent 3 then stomped off, uttering a quiet “fuck” before reverting to squid form and slipping through the grate. Marie sighed. 

“Don’t mind her. She’s been acting like this for the better part of a year… There doesn’t even seem to be anything we can do to help her. She’s just pushing us all away.”

Eight was worried now. “Is something… wrong with her?”

Marie shrugged. “I don’t know for certain. And I’ll never know if she won’t fucking tell us.” Marie spat as if Three could still hear her. Eight recoiled.

“She left out around a year ago to ‘explore the world’. Around the time we enlisted our fourth Agent.” Came back a completely different person. Used to be so full of energy, and now…”

Agent 8 frowned. Something about all this wasn’t sitting right with her.

“Where’d she go off to?”

“Didn’t say. Said she needed time to think. In the amount of time she was gone, she could’ve gone around the world twice.”

Agent 8 wasn’t particularly informed about the Inkling's work ethic, but a year off work didn’t seem like something she’d often do.

“Really, though, I’m concerned… Could you go after her? Tell her that she has to show you around the city, and that it’s an order. Hurry up, though. Who knows where she could be by now..”

Agent 8 nodded and began to head towards the grate.

“Oh, and before you leave...

  
Tread lightly.”

  
As Agent 8 headed towards the grate, she thought hard about what Marie had warned her.

_“Tread lightly.”_

What does that mean, exactly?

Agent 8 felt her stomach churn.

The blinding sun met Agent 8’s eyes as she jumped out of the grate. She grimaced. There was no “sun” down in the tunnels. There was only darkness and faux hope. 

She wondered if being out too long in the heat would be bad for her.

She shrugged it off.  
  


* * *

  
Inkopolis was huge.

Agent 8 could just barely believe what she’d been missing out on! There was so much life in this city. So... open! Nobody was hiding out or shutting in, everybody out and about...

From what she could gather, it was midday. The square was filled with Inklings, as well. She caught a weird glance every so often, but she managed to blend in with her surroundings relatively well. 

  
She didn’t wind up having to look for Three for long, because Three had actually started to approach Eight herself.

“Oh, 3, there you are! I’ve been looking all over for-”

Three dismissed it with her hand. “I’m not here to listen to whatever you have to say. I’m here to remind you of something,” Three was rather close to Eight at this point. Eight could feel Three’s harsh breath against her skin.

It certainly did not fill her with confidence.

“If you think I have anything to do with you, you’re sorely mistaken.” Agent 3 growled before beginning to walk away.

“Wait, 3! Marie had something for me to tell you-”

“For fuck’s sake, what now?” Agent 3 snapped. Agent 8 grimaced.

“She told me to tell you to… To show me around the city?”

Agent 3 turned back to her, glaring daggers.

“She also said… it’s an order.” 

Agent 3 stared and seemed to calm down a bit. “...So that’s how it is then…” Three then stared up at the sky for a moment.

“...Fine. After this, I can leave this city for good.” Agent 3 growled.  
  
“You’re… planning to leave?”

“Yeah. I left a while ago, but was called back for an ‘urgent mission’.” She sighed. “And that mission involved you.”

Agent 8 would be lying if she said she wasn’t the least bit flattered by this.

“Me?”

“Yeah. Something about spikes in Octarian somethin’. Can’t remember now, but you were involved in some way.”

Agent 8 knew what she meant. After all, it was among the few things she truly remembered. And yet, it still felt so far away.

Agent 8 decided to change the subject.

“Where did you go while you were out?”

“Everywhere, I guess. I was doing as much as I could. Made some… choices, missed some opportunities, made mistakes..” 3 began to trail off.

“Then why’d you leave?”

“Not important.”

Agent 8 felt herself shrink under 3’s fervid stare. 

A stare that was all too familiar.

Beside her was 3, with a bit of a disinterested look in her eyes. “Here’s the turf war lobby..” Agent 3 gestured to a lobby-like area. Inklings were going in and out of the lobby, some seeming happy, and some seeming a bit… bothered.

“Turf war? Like the one all those years back?”

“Pssh. Nah. It’s a sport up here now. You never knew?”

Agent 8 shook her head.

“Hm. Maybe I could bring you one day.”

“Really?!” Agent 8 perked up in excitement.

“I said maybe. Come on.” Three walked ahead.  
  
_'Eh, close enough.'_ Eight thought to herself.  
  


* * *

  
After around a half-hour of walking, Agent 3 had finally decided to get Agent 8 something to eat.

Not out of compassion, but more likely because Agent 8 looked as if she hadn’t eaten in days.

Which, to be fair, wasn’t that far from the truth.

Agent 8 hadn’t ever eaten anything that could be called ‘food’, as that title was… much too generous for the tasteless paste she’d used to be served.  
  
At least it was edible. Presumably. 

“Sit down here,” Agent 3 had told her, gesturing to a seat. “I’m going to go get us something to eat. I think I have an idea of what you might like.” Agent 3 said.

For a moment there, Agent 8 had caught something flash in her eyes. Something… something she hadn’t seen in those cold, grey eyes before. 

But, just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. 

A few moments later, Agent 3 reappeared with what looked to be two bowls of some sort of food. Agent 8 stared at the bowls as 3 placed them down, practically devouring them with her eyes alone. 

“Well, dig in, or whatever.” Agent 3 scoffed. Agent 8 looked back at the food and attempted to pick it up with her bare hands before realizing how cold it was, dropping it back onto the plate and earning a stifled laugh from Agent 3 in the process.

“You’re supposed to use the spoon to eat it…” Agent 3 gestured to the spoon. 

“...Oh.” Agent 8 picked up the spoon awkwardly. Eight found it strange that Inklings had to use some sort of scoop just to do something as simple as eating.

She reluctantly scooped a bit onto the spoon and ate it. 

It was cold.

“It’s… good, but I’m not sure if Octolings should be eating this…”

Agent 3 dismissed it with a wave. “It should be fine. It’s just ice cream. Nothing special.” 

Eight responded with a nod.  
  
“Can I ask you something?” Agent 8 looked up for a moment.

“Shoot.”

“What’s your name?” 

“My… name..?” Agent 3 asked tentatively. 

“Yeah! I.. don’t know mine, so I thought I’d ask yours. Plus, it’d be strange just to call you by a number all the time, right?”

Agent 3 was silent for a few moments, seemingly unsure if she wanted to answer at all. Her uneasy stare returned.

“...Maybe some other time.”

  
“..Huh..?” 

“When the time comes, I’ll tell you. I promise.”

Agent 8 was a bit disappointed, but understood. Agent 3 seemed intent on keeping that promise, judging by her face.   
  
“Well, that’s fine! We can be nameless together, right?” Agent 8 smiled.

“...I guess so..”

Agent 3 stared at the sky, lost in thought. 

‘I think I understand why Marie is concerned now.’ Agent 8 thought to herself.

Agent 3 looked at her phone for a moment, then groaned. She angrily tapped at it with her thumbs for a while before putting it down and sighing.

“...What's wrong?”

“Agent 4’s trying to make me come downtown to ‘celebrate’. What even is there to celebrate? Me almost fucking dying? As if.” Agent 3 finished the rest of her food and leaned back in her chair. “Besides, I’d have to go there by train, and it’s no short ride.”

Oh, great. Another train.

Agent 8 stared at her. “Well.. is she your friend?”

“...I guess.” Agent 3 looked down, a bit of guilt showing on her face. Or annoyance? Reading Three’s face proved to be more and more difficult as time went on. Eight took it as a fun challenge.

“Then she probably just wants to catch up! I say you should go. If not for yourself, for her.” Agent 8 smiled. Agent 3 crossed her arms and muttered something to herself. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

“...I’ll think about it. In the meantime, I should probably get you… oh. You don’t live anywhere, huh…”

Eight shook her head. “The closest thing to a home that I have would be the Metro.”

Three groaned again.

“Fine. We’re going, okay? Now finish up your food before I change my mind.” Agent 3 got up out of her seat. Agent 8 looked up at her with a growing smile. Agent 3 turned away and pulled her phone back out, presumably to write a message to Agent 4.

Agent 8 still pondered why they had chosen herself, of all people, to be an Agent. She understood the circumstances, but assuming this was an Inkling military squadron, she had no idea why she was still enlisted. She was an Octoling, after all. She had served her duty in the Metro; what was left for her?

Then again, Marina was likely also an Agent.

For this reason, she was a bit nervous about meeting Four. Sure, the other’s reactions weren’t bad, but for all she knew, Four could be a severe threat.

She only hoped Three would save her if she was.

Three looked up from her phone. “...Are you gonna just sit there and stare at me, or are we going? I don’t want to miss the train.”

“Ah, right.”

Agent 8 was pretty sure she hated trains now. This certainly wasn’t going to help.

Eight finished up eating and followed Three to the train. Three gave what looked to be money to the conductor and picked a seat far away from anyone else.

Eight found it a bit funny. “If you’re trying not to attract attention, maybe you shouldn’t wear a huge cape. And uh, a bright yellow outfit.”

“You’re one to talk.” Three laughed a bit. “Come on, sit.” She gestured towards the space left over.

Eight planted herself next to Three. The train was… comfortable, in a way. The seats were soft, but Eight found her attention resting on Three. Three stared out of the window, head resting on her hands.

And, even if just for a moment, Eight believed that everything would be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Merry Christmas, and all that...and... ah, fuck. Looks like I'm off by a minute... I hope you liked this first chapter! I've created a handy timeline to clear up any confusion about the order of events here.
> 
> The events of this fic take place directly after the events of Octo Expansion. In this universe, Octo Expansion takes place a year after Splatoon 2's main storyline. Splatoon 2's main storyline also takes place 2 years after Splatoon 1's. Meaning, in this universe, it has been 3 years since Splatoon 1's events. Hope that cleared any confusion up, and I can't wait to share the next chapter with you all! Stay tuned!
> 
> -OzzyOz


End file.
